Labour ready to bed Fianna Fail- SINDO

According to today’s edition of the Sunday Independent, it appears that Labour front bencher’s have begun to test public opinion on the idea of a coalition with Fianna Fáil. I personally believe this is nothing more than a transfers ploy by the Labour party, however it potentially could seriously backfire. While Eamonn Gilmore has always insisted he would not go into Government with the Republican Party, today’s commentary by Joan “Battleaxe” Burton especially, signals that it might be an option for the red-shirts. This could be fatal misjudgment for Labour. The public are ready to decimate Fianna Fail at the next General Election, so for Labour to suggest that they are possibly willing to go into Government in 2012 with them is insane. If this is simply a transfers ploy, I can’t see how it will help their cause hugely. Labour’s thinking is that in many constituencies where Fianna Fáil will lose a seat, Labour will be looking to gain and will poll ahead of that second Fianna Fáil candidate, but will require sizeable transfers to win a seat. In theory it’s a good idea to look for those extra transfers from Fianna Fail, which wont be going to Fine Gael in big numbers. However, if the public become worried that Labour might actually go into bed with Fianna Fail, they wont even need to worry about winning extra seats.

Burton today suggested that if Brian “Smoking” Cowen was gone, they would seriously consider a coalition with the party who single handedly destroyed the economy twice in 30 years. Burton along with other Labour members suggested that it would be far easier to work with Fianna Fáil as opposed to Fine Gael. She is naturally dead right. Just look at the power the tiny Green Party has in Government! They have railroaded Fianna Fáil to get what ever they like, at any cost to keep Fianna Fáil in Government. It is also quite clear that Fianna Fail are the ‘votes first, policy second’ party where Fine Gael is quite set on policy and would be very slow to bend to Labour’s questionable agenda.

However Labour is very suited to Fianna Fail. They stand for nothing. Together we would form a fine coalition. It would only plunge us into economic desolation. We wouldn’t see economic growth for decades, if we are lucky, as Labour halts Fianna Fail cutbacks while forcing them to increase spending thus widening our continued deficits. Apocalypse is the only word which rightly comes to mind.

Either way, the public may now punish Labour severely, for this suggestion that returning to power with the “desperate ones” might actually happen. Depending on the reaction to Liveline, I expect Gilmore to reject this idea totally tomorrow, as he seeks to limit the damage. If he doesn’t, Labour members should really start asking questions.

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/labour-hint-at-ff-deal-if-cowen-goes-2316098.html